Migration Policy Institute
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank founded in 2001 that conducts research, data analysis, and policy recommendations on global migration, immigration trends, and integration strategies.[1][2] Describing itself as independent and nonpartisan, MPI focuses on evidence-informed studies to influence immigration policies, producing resources such as the Migration Data Hub for tracking immigrant populations, unauthorized migration estimates, and international comparisons.[3][4] MPI's work emphasizes pragmatic reforms, including pathways to legal status for unauthorized immigrants and enhanced integration programs, which has positioned it as a key voice in U.S. and global policy discussions.[5] However, independent assessments rate MPI as left-center biased due to its consistent advocacy for expansive immigration policies and humane enforcement approaches over restrictionist measures.[6][7] In 2011, it expanded internationally by establishing MPI Europe in Brussels to address European migration challenges.[2] The institute's publications, including fact sheets and explainer articles, draw on authoritative data sources to highlight demographic shifts, such as the 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. as of mid-2023, reflecting diverse origins and labor contributions.[8][9]
Founding and Early Development
Establishment in 2001
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) was founded in late 2001 as an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., dedicated to research and analysis on global migration movements, immigration policies, and integration outcomes.[10] It emerged from the International Migration Policy Program previously housed at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, aiming to offer evidence-based insights to policymakers amid rising international migration flows and post-Cold War policy shifts.[10] [11] The organization was established just days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which intensified scrutiny on immigration enforcement and border security in the ensuing years.[11] MPI was co-founded by Demetrios G. Papademetriou, an immigration economist with prior advisory roles to governments and international bodies, and Kathleen Newland, a specialist in refugee and migration issues.[12] [11] Papademetriou assumed the role of founding president, leading the institute until 2014 and shaping its early focus on rigorous, data-driven examinations of migration's economic, social, and security dimensions rather than advocacy-driven narratives.[13] Initial operations emphasized bridging academic research with practical policy recommendations, drawing on the founders' networks in think tanks and multilateral organizations to build credibility in a field often polarized by ideological debates.[10] Early funding supported targeted studies on U.S. and European immigration systems, establishing MPI as a resource for empirical analysis independent of government influence.[14]Key Founders and Initial Mission
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) was co-founded in 2001 by Demetrios G. Papademetriou, a migration policy expert who served as its founding president and later president emeritus, and Kathleen Newland, a specialist in international migration governance and refugee protection who became a senior fellow and board member.[15][16] Papademetriou, with prior experience advising governments and international organizations on labor migration, sought to create a dedicated research entity amid post-9/11 debates on U.S. immigration reform.[17] Newland, drawing from her work on migration-development linkages, contributed to shaping MPI's emphasis on global policy analysis.[18] From its inception, MPI's initial mission centered on conducting independent, nonpartisan research to analyze the movement of people worldwide and inform immigration and integration policies with evidence-based insights.[1][19] The founders aimed to address the growing complexities of large-scale migration by producing pragmatic, data-driven recommendations that promote orderly and fair systems, rather than ideological advocacy.[17][20] This focus was positioned as a response to policy gaps in an era of increasing unauthorized flows and humanitarian crises, prioritizing analytical rigor over prescriptive outcomes.[14]Expansion in the 2000s
In the years immediately following its founding in late 2001 by Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kathleen Newland, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) underwent rapid organizational growth, transitioning from a nascent entity spun off from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's International Migration Policy Program into an independent think tank with expanded research capabilities.[10] This period saw MPI build its core team of policy analysts, demographers, and economists, enabling broader coverage of migration dynamics beyond initial U.S.-focused efforts to include global flows and integration challenges.[1] By mid-decade, the institute had established key partnerships with governments, NGOs, and academic institutions, facilitating data-driven analyses amid heightened post-9/11 scrutiny of immigration systems.[21] A hallmark of MPI's expansion was the launch of the Migration Information Source in 2003, an online platform delivering in-depth country profiles, thematic reports, and data visualizations on migration trends across more than 100 nations, which quickly became a cornerstone resource for policymakers and researchers.[22] This initiative reflected MPI's strategic shift toward comprehensive, evidence-based tools, including early precursors to its later data hubs, to address empirical gaps in understanding causal factors like labor market demands and security implications of cross-border movements. The institute's output surged, with dozens of publications annually by the late 2000s examining issues such as the record immigration decade of 2000-2010, during which nearly 14 million immigrants entered the U.S., straining policy frameworks.[23] Financially, MPI's growth was supported by diversified funding from foundations and philanthropies, allowing for increased staffing—reaching over 50 personnel by 2010—and programmatic depth without reliance on government contracts that might compromise independence.[1] This expansion positioned MPI as a counterweight to ideologically driven narratives, emphasizing first-principles analysis of migration's economic and social effects, though critics noted its outputs often aligned with perspectives favoring managed inflows over restrictionism, reflecting the think tank's origins in pro-reform circles.[10] By decade's end, MPI had influenced debates on comprehensive reform, including guest worker programs and enforcement, through testimonies and advisory roles, underscoring its maturation into a pivotal nonpartisan voice.[24]Organizational Structure and Operations
Leadership and Governance
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is led by its president, Andrew Selee, who succeeded co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix in the role.[25] [26] Selee, who previously directed the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, oversees the institute's strategic direction, research agenda, and operations as a nonpartisan think tank focused on immigration and integration policy analysis.[25] Governance of MPI is vested in its Board of Trustees, which provides oversight, sets policy priorities, and ensures financial and operational accountability.[26] The board is chaired by Roberta S. Jacobson, a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, with Cecilia Malmström serving as vice chair; she previously held roles as European Commissioner for Trade and Home Affairs.[26] Additional officers include Treasurer Malcolm Brown and Secretary Lynden Melmed.[26] Trustees hail from diverse sectors including government, business, and philanthropy, such as Paul S. Dwyer Jr., Juan José Gómez-Camacho, and new appointees Paul Dwyer, Charles Kamasaki, and Elizabeth Espín Stern, who joined in July 2025 to broaden expertise in migration issues.[26] [27] As an independent nonprofit, MPI's structure emphasizes autonomy in research, with the board approving major initiatives while the president manages day-to-day leadership and program directors handle specialized areas like U.S. immigration policy under Doris Meissner and immigrant integration under Margie McHugh.[28] This framework supports MPI's self-described nonpartisan mission, though its outputs have drawn scrutiny for aligning with pro-immigration perspectives in policy debates.[1]Offices and Global Reach
The Migration Policy Institute maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C., at 1275 K Street NW, Suite 800.[29] This location serves as the primary hub for its research, policy analysis, and administrative operations focused on North American immigration issues.[1] In 2011, MPI established a European office, Migration Policy Institute Europe, in Brussels, Belgium, at Residence Palace, 155 Rue de la Loi.[30][31] This outpost engages with European Union institutions, providing research and policy recommendations on migration and integration within Europe, building on MPI's prior transatlantic work.[32] Official descriptions emphasize these two offices as the core physical presence, situated in North America and Europe to align with the institute's prioritized research regions.[1] MPI extends its influence globally beyond these bases through extensive international collaborations, data hubs tracking worldwide migration trends, and programs addressing skill partnerships, development impacts, and policy frameworks in regions including Asia, Latin America, and Africa.[33][34] While some secondary sources reference presences or historical offices in New York and Manila, these are not corroborated in primary institutional documentation and appear tied to specific program leads or past initiatives rather than ongoing operational sites.[35] The institute's nonpartisan analyses and engagements with governments, NGOs, and multilateral bodies, such as contributions to the Global Compact for Migration, amplify its reach without requiring additional physical infrastructure.[36][16]Staff and Expertise
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) maintains a staff of approximately 75 individuals, including researchers, policy analysts, program directors, and support personnel, as reported in recent financial disclosures. This team composition supports MPI's focus on data-driven analysis of migration patterns, with roles distributed across U.S.-centric programs, international initiatives, and integration efforts. Staff backgrounds typically include advanced degrees in fields such as demography, economics, public policy, and international relations, drawn from academic, governmental, and nonprofit sectors.[37] Leadership and senior experts provide specialized knowledge in core migration domains. Andrew Selee, MPI's president since 2017, directs overall strategy with expertise in U.S.-Mexico border dynamics, refugee resettlement, and policy reform, informed by his prior roles at the Wilson Center and academic positions. Doris Meissner, senior fellow and director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program, brings over 40 years of experience, including as commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from 1993 to 1997, focusing on enforcement, border management, and bilateral migration agreements. Margie McHugh, director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, specializes in state and local integration strategies, workforce development, and civic participation, based on her work with urban institutes and government task forces.[25][38][39] Research staff emphasize empirical analysis of immigrant socioeconomic outcomes and policy impacts. Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst, examines labor market effects, educational mobility of immigrant youth, and demographic trends using census and survey data. Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program, concentrates on legal immigration pathways, family-based admissions, and visa processing inefficiencies. Meghan Benton, director of global programs, addresses international migration governance, labor mobility, and European Union policies, drawing from her experience at think tanks like the German Marshall Fund. These experts contribute to MPI's outputs through quantitative modeling, qualitative case studies, and stakeholder consultations, though the organization's emphasis on expansive legal pathways has drawn scrutiny for potentially underweighting enforcement data in favor of integration-focused narratives.[40][41][42][5] MPI recruits for diversity in professional and personal backgrounds to mirror migration's complexity, including multilingual capabilities and field experience in origin and destination countries. Expertise clusters around unauthorized migration estimation (e.g., via residual methods from census data), integration metrics like language acquisition rates, and global flows, with tools like the Migration Data Hub relying on staff proficiency in datasets from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and OECD. While MPI positions its work as nonpartisan, staff publications often highlight barriers to legalization over fiscal or security costs of high-volume inflows, reflecting institutional priorities rather than uniform empirical consensus.[37]Research Activities and Outputs
Core Research Areas
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) concentrates its research on key dimensions of migration, including policy analysis, data-driven trends, and integration outcomes, with a primary emphasis on filling analytical gaps in immigration systems worldwide. Its work spans U.S.-centric immigration reforms, such as legal pathways, enforcement strategies, and unauthorized migration dynamics, often evaluating policy effectiveness through empirical assessments.[1] Globally, MPI examines migration flows, labor mobility, and economic impacts, including remittances and development linkages in origin countries.[43] A central pillar involves immigrant integration, covering education, employment, health access, and civic participation for newcomers in host societies. MPI's initiatives, such as the Integration Futures Working Group, explore long-term strategies for successful societal incorporation, drawing on comparative data from Europe and North America.[43] Refugee and forced displacement research addresses protection mechanisms, asylum processing, and reintegration challenges, particularly in regions like the Northern Triangle of Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, with analyses of deportation outcomes and returnee support systems.[44] [45] Data tools form another core area, exemplified by the Migration Data Hub, which aggregates global statistics on migrant stocks, flows, and demographics to inform evidence-based policymaking. MPI also prioritizes border management, transnational policy coordination, and health-related migration issues, such as pandemic-era mobility restrictions and migrant healthcare disparities.[8] These efforts integrate quantitative modeling with qualitative case studies, often highlighting understudied intersections like climate-induced displacement and gender-specific migration patterns.[46]Publications and Data Tools
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) produces diverse research outputs, including in-depth reports, concise fact sheets, policy briefs, and analytical articles published via its online platform, the Migration Information Source. Reports often examine immigration trends, policy impacts, and global migration dynamics, drawing on quantitative analyses of official data sources such as U.S. Census Bureau American Community Surveys (ACS). For instance, a March 12, 2025, article in the Migration Information Source compiles frequently requested statistics on immigrants and immigration in the United States, tabulating data from ACS 2010–2023 alongside historical Census figures from 1970, 1990, and 2000 to track metrics like foreign-born population shares and origins. Fact sheets synthesize key data on topics like unauthorized immigrant populations at national, state, and county levels, emphasizing empirical profiles without prescriptive policy recommendations.[4][47][9] MPI's Migration Information Source functions as a digital magazine offering factual overviews, data visualizations, and expert analyses on migration movements worldwide, with contributions from institute researchers and external specialists. Publications prioritize accessibility, compiling governmental and nongovernmental data sources into user guides, such as those on immigrant integration or refugee flows, while attributing statistics to primary datasets like international migration statistics from the United Nations or U.S. Department of Homeland Security records. The institute also issues occasional books and working papers, though its core output remains periodic reports addressing timely issues, such as deferred action programs or labor migration patterns, updated with the latest available empirical evidence.[48][49] Central to MPI's data outputs is the Migration Data Hub, an interactive online platform launched to visualize immigrant population characteristics and trends at U.S. national, state, and select county levels over time. The hub integrates tools for exploring metrics like net migration, asylum applications, citizenship acquisition, remittances, and unauthorized populations, sourcing data from entities including the U.S. Census Bureau, World Bank, and UNHCR. Key features include customizable maps, charts, and downloadable profiles; for example, State Immigration Data Profiles allow users to query foreign-born demographics by origin country, education, and employment, while International Migration Statistics tools track bilateral flows and policy-relevant indicators globally. Specialized subsets cover U.S.-specific topics, such as Unauthorized Immigrant Population Profiles estimating eligibility for programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) using USCIS data as of December in recent years, and DACA recipient profiles at national and state scales.[3][50][51][52] These tools emphasize empirical tabulations and visualizations to facilitate policy analysis, with methodologies disclosed per dataset—such as residual estimation methods for unauthorized populations derived from ACS adjustments—and regular updates to reflect new releases like annual ACS data. The hub's design supports cross-comparisons, enabling queries on topics from refugee resettlement to skilled migration, though coverage varies by data availability, with stronger granularity for U.S. trends than some international metrics.[3][4]Methodological Approach
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) primarily relies on quantitative demographic analysis and residual estimation techniques to derive insights into migration patterns, particularly for populations difficult to enumerate directly, such as unauthorized immigrants. A core method involves comparing total foreign-born populations from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) against estimates of legal immigrants compiled from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) administrative data, historical Census records, and other official sources to calculate unauthorized populations via subtraction, known as the residual method.[53] This three-stage process—first estimating unauthorized totals, then allocating legal statuses (e.g., lawful permanent residents, refugees, temporary visa holders) based on demographic characteristics like country of birth, entry year, age, and education, and finally assigning remaining noncitizens to categories such as temporary protected status—has been refined through collaborations with demographers and applied consistently in MPI's annual unauthorized population estimates, which pegged the U.S. figure at approximately 11.0 million as of mid-2022.[53][54] In addition to census-based modeling, MPI incorporates projections that assume continuity in behavioral patterns, such as fertility and migration rates among unauthorized groups, to forecast outcomes like birthright citizenship eligibility; for instance, their MPI-Penn State model projects future citizen births under varying policy scenarios while holding constant observed unauthorized demographics.[55] For broader policy evaluation, the institute draws on migrant surveys, administrative inflows data, and observational metrics to assess border enforcement efficacy, enabling estimates of irregular crossings and policy impacts without relying solely on government-reported apprehensions, which can undercount successful entries.[56] These approaches are supplemented by qualitative analysis of legislative typologies and international data compilations in tools like the Migration Data Hub, which aggregates statistics from over 220 governmental and multilateral sources on topics including asylum claims and net migration flows.[3] MPI's methods prioritize empirical rigor through cross-verification of datasets—for example, mapping ACS characteristics to smaller surveys for validation—but depend on assumptions about data completeness and respondent accuracy in self-reported surveys, potentially introducing undercounts for hidden populations.[57] While the institute positions its work as nonpartisan and evidence-based, critics note that selective emphasis on certain data interpretations may align with pro-integration policy preferences, though factual sourcing from primary government records supports the reliability of baseline estimates.[6][1]Funding and Financial Transparency
Major Donors and Sources
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) obtains the majority of its funding through competitive research grants from private foundations, with additional support from multilateral organizations, U.S. and foreign government agencies, corporations, and individual philanthropists.[58] This model emphasizes project-specific grants tied to migration research, policy analysis, and data tools, rather than unrestricted endowments.[58] Prominent foundation donors include the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Rockefeller Foundation, many of which prioritize progressive immigration and integration initiatives.[58][5] For instance, the Open Society Foundations awarded MPI $930,442 for general support in December 2023. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation also provided funding in 2023, reflecting contributions from high-net-worth individuals via donor-advised funds. Government and institutional funders encompass the U.S. Census Bureau for demographic data projects, the Inter-American Development Bank for Latin American migration studies, and various international agencies.[59] Corporate supporters, such as Booz Allen Hamilton, contribute through partnerships on policy consulting and analytics.[59] MPI maintains that its diverse funding base supports nonpartisan analysis, though the predominance of left-leaning foundations has drawn scrutiny from conservative observers regarding potential agenda alignment.[5] Detailed donor disclosures appear in MPI's IRS Form 990 filings, available via public databases, but individual grant amounts beyond major awards are often aggregated for privacy.[60]Budget and Financial Trends
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI), as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, reports its financials annually via IRS Form 990 filings, revealing a pattern of revenue growth aligned with expanded research and policy activities. Total revenue increased from $4.13 million in fiscal year 2014 to $7.02 million in fiscal year 2023 and $8.59 million in fiscal year 2024 (ending June 2024).[5][60][60] Expenses followed a similar upward trajectory, reaching $7.09 million in fiscal year 2024, yielding a net income of approximately $1.5 million for that year.[60] This growth reflects broader trends in think tank funding, where contributions—primarily from foundations and philanthropists—constituted 93.6% of revenue in recent years, with program service revenue and investments forming smaller shares.[60]| Fiscal Year Ending | Total Revenue | Total Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| June 2014 | $4.13 million | Not specified in available filings |
| June 2017 | $7.71 million | $6.00 million |
| June 2023 | $7.02 million | Not specified in available filings |
| June 2024 | $8.59 million | $7.09 million |